


The Lay of Niënor

by starlightwalking



Series: Lost Lays of the Legendarium [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Back to Middle-Earth Month, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Ghosts, Lay Lyrique, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: Niënor, and what the water made her.
Series: Lost Lays of the Legendarium [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1308935
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25
Collections: Back to Middle-earth Month 2020: Endings and Beginnings





	The Lay of Niënor

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Image Edit: The River-women](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20842487) by [starlightwalking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking). 



> This story is written in lay lyrique, the style of poetry favored by Tolkien himself. If you've read what he wrote of The Lay of Leithian, hopefully this sounds somewhat like that.
> 
> For B2MeM 3/14/20. Prompts were "[Ophelia](https://arofili.tumblr.com/post/612561624770002944/backtomiddleearthmonth-ophelia-by-john-everett)" by John Everett Millais [Official Prompt], origin [Beginnings], and death [Endings]. Opheliac imagery always reminds me of Niënor, and with the generator prompts I wanted to play with the idea of death being the beginning, and the story concluding with the origin of one of Tolkien's more mysterious characters.
> 
> I've had this idea for forever; for Innumerable Stars I made [an edit](https://arofili.tumblr.com/post/188324618449/the-river-women-for-naryaflame) on this topic. I actually started writing something similar to this then, but couldn't find the words. I'm glad I could return to the idea now!

From Cabed Naeramarth she leapt  
and into waters dark was swept  
beyond this realm of mortal souls  
and evil gained at last its goals  
of death for daughter, mother, son  
of doomèd Húrin Thalion.

Ai, Niënor! Ai, Níniel!  
waking too late from the spell!  
From dreadful heights her body fell,  
and spirit washed away to hell.

—Or so the lays and lyriques say,  
but death is known to be abeyed,  
especial when doom's marked unjust  
and Mandos lends his Maiar trust...

From body was her spirit torn  
but rose again into new form:  
cradled close by river's heart  
thus granting Niënor new start.

The wild water calmed and soothed  
her spirit so profoundly bruised,  
and Niënor forgot her grief  
the river giving her relief.

The River-woman she became:  
she shed her past, she shed her name.  
Waters caught her in her fall  
and to their wisdom she gave all.

O Níniel, O Niënor—  
the river's daughter then she bore,  
a maiden golden, bright and merry,  
as fair as spring and sweet as berry.

The world was changed, its fate reshaped  
about its borders darkness caped,  
and with the waves of Númenor  
the river-women washed ashore  
in wild, unfamiliar land  
but there was one to lend a hand  
to spirits lost and so uprooted:  
Bombadil, the yellow-booted.

Enigmas all, this band of three—  
a mother, Tom, and Goldberry—  
weaved together life renewed  
and in their joy, we now conclude.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and commenting!  
> You can find me on tumblr [@arofili](http://arofili.tumblr.com/).


End file.
